Past tense of flinch
regular verb
The past tense of flinch is flinched. The past participle is also flinched.
Forms of flinch
| Base form (V1) | flinch /ˈflɪnt͡ʃ/ |
|---|---|
| Past tense (V2) | flinched |
| Past participle (V3) | flinched |
| Present participle | flinching |
| Third person singular | flinches |
Flinched in a sentence
- I didn't tell my parents, but I flinched if an Asian-looking man came close.2013, Malala Yousafzai, I Am Malala. From the entry Asian
- Confronted with the savage defenses, many of the Japanese pilots flinched.2011, James D. Hornfischer, “26: Suicide”, in Neptune's Inferno: The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal, New York: Bantam Books, →ISBN, retrieved 17…. From the entry kiss of death
- One head of a small gay charity visibly flinched when I mentioned my boyfriend and has been cold towards me ever since.2010 March 3, Jessica Green, “I'm sorry, I'm not lesbian: My being a straight editor of Pink News has confused and angered some – but it…. From the entry transgender
- People shouted cheerfully and flinched, but the Prime Minister didn't flinch, she fortified her voice with a firm diapason as if rising to the challenge of a rowdy Chamber.2004, Alan Hollinghurst, chapter 12, in The Line of Beauty […], London: Picador, →ISBN. From the entry courtier
Meaning of flinch
- noun A reflexive jerking away.
- noun The slipping of the foot from a ball, when attempting to give a tight croquet.
- verb To make a sudden, involuntary movement in response to a (usually negative) stimulus; to cringe; to blench.
Questions about the past tense of flinch
- What is the past tense of flinch?
- The past tense of flinch is flinched.
- What is the past participle of flinch?
- The past participle of flinch is flinched.
- Is flinch a regular or irregular verb?
- Flinch is a regular verb: its past tense adds -ed.
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: flinch (page history and authors) and the entries of its forms. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws left out forms marked obsolete, archaic, rare or dialectal and added the examples. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this page: “Past tense of flinch.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/past-tense/flinch. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.